To Find Love In A Place She Could Never Imagine
by sctwilightvampwolfgal
Summary: Amelia was not a fan of the planet, Arrakis, as it was too hot, too dry, and always a bit more on the boring side. She just wanted to go home to Caladan, but she was stuck here, where she would inevitably meet a Fremen that would change her life in only the best ways. *Nyo!America.* *Nyo!Canada.* *Inspired off of one of AmeLiet Week 2018's prompts.* *Dune AU.*


She hates it here, the way that the desert air clings to her throat, making her both sweat and grow so, so thirsty. It's why she tries to stay inside most of the time, but she can't help but wander when that's her favorite past time. She used to wander by streams, feel the rain on her skin, know just how it feels to feel steady dirt beneath her feet, not meandering sand that drifts and floats away. Amelia used to know that when she laid her head down at night, she won't have to wake up feeling isolated.

When her cousins moved, and she moved with them, she already felt the longing for home. She's sixteen, and Arrakis is not the planet that feels like home to her, not like Caladan felt like. She pauses, before she rushes off of the sand, trying to mimic the steps of the Fremen that always felt so distant to her. Her feet stumble, and she nearly falls before she can get away from the Sandworm that rises from the ground, that appears as if this is its territory, and she nearly sneezes when the dust meets her nose. Melange, something that she hopes that she doesn't have to try or eat.

The blue on blue eyes of the Fremen scare her some times, from as little as she'd had to interact with them. They feel inhuman, and Amelia wonders just what to do about that as she slips back down the past, half-hopping, half-stepping, and wondering if the air is really so dry when she gets back to what she has to call home right now, though when she turns quite a distance away, just to look back, she's positive that she sees someone on the Sandworm, but that's impossible, so she hurries home.

* * *

Amelia counts to a hundred, breathing steady, and just looks out the window, imagining that her sister isn't hiding somewhere in the house, as she looks out and wonders if what she saw the other day was the honest truth. She burns the memory to her mind like one last treat to remember, and she sighs as she glimpses nothing but sand and the smattering of trees outside her window. There's only so much life on Arrakis, it seems, and she sometimes doesn't feel like the living.

"Ami," Maddie sighs as she wanders into the room, though only two years younger, she's upset that her sister didn't even try to find her.

"I'm sorry, I just..." How do you tell your little sister that you're not in the mood and won't ever be in the mood again, possibly? Arrakis is not home, no matter how well adjusted Maddie seems. She's used to ice, and Amelia wonders if she forgets how much she loved to skate on the ice and play 'hockey.' She doesn't wonder too long however, because sure enough, her sister pulls her into another game that feels like a distraction.

* * *

The way the Fremen walk still feels unnatural as Amelia tries to hop and skip as far away from the house as possible, as far away from the place that they'd lived that had yet to feel like home, and she doesn't look back. Amelia still isn't sure if the place that she'll go to will be hospitable or even distant, but her sister's following right behind her, and Amelia was taught that she'd have to be the one to guide her, to step up and lead, since she is the older one. She feels like she can't breathe in the hot air, and somehow Maddie can more accurately imitate the Fremen walk as they scurry past the mansion that was 'almost' a home and still nothing like one.

"Do they see us?" Maddie's nearly at her elbow from the long, sloping steps that she's forced to take, and Amelia feels that slithering Sandworm in her stomach, as well. It is a risk that they feel forced to take.

"I hope not. Eyes ahead, walk like a Fremen, and be quiet!" It's something that she never has to tell her sister. Her sister's movement more mirrors the Fremen, and her sister has always been much more quiet than Amelia could ever hope to be.

Maddie nods and doesn't say a word. Amelia kind of longs for the reprieve of a word, of something to draw her mind off of the heat and the fear and the risk of Sandworms appearing from nowhere. She evens her breathing, pretends that it isn't dangerous to cross the hot sands. Calm would help her sister out and melt Amelia's anxiety, so that is what she pretends to be.

The wind makes the only noise, other than their arhythmic steps that keep the Sandworms from acknowledging non-desert sounds. Amelia wonders if it could get any hotter than it is now.

* * *

Amelia's legs feel like jello, as she tries to stay standing tall, amid what seems like a threat that two citizens of Caladan should not be able to amass. Amelia, the strong one, the brave one, that's what she's trying for. Words are not an option as her mind shifts and sways, and she forgets how to properly speak.

"We mean no harm." Maddie's hand slips into hers as she speaks, and suddenly, she sees something in her little sister that she'd never known was there. The brave girl that hockey's toughened up, that has learned that calm is better than anxiety in moments like this. Amelia wishes that it would come as easily to her as it seems to come to Maddie.

"How do we know that?" The voice is harsh, and Amelia is pretty sure that her heart has completely dropped away from her, even as she wills herself to speak.

"We may not be from Arrakis, but," She breathes, steadying herself against everything pulling against her, "We did not come to this planet, to be harmful." Amelia can't shake the idea that somehow _they _are the aliens: Maddie and Amelia, two aliens lost elsewhere. Those old stories felt like parodies compared to the fear and the stupified reality of just being here on another planet and having no idea how to stay safe.

"And?" He's cautious, and Amelia wonders if lies were spread about them or if he's just trying to rile her up or test to make sure that they were in fact safe to be around.

"I am Amelia, from Caladan." She gulps, "This is my sister, Madeline. We are not royalty, only related." It's the honest truth as she fights against everything in her that makes her want to run away on quaky knees. If the Fremen didn't kill them, the desert surely would.

"What do you mean not royalty?" The head of the Fremen asked her, and she realized that this was way, way bad, worse than she'd thought it was.

"We are nowhere close to be in line to become princesses or queens. They merely took care of us." Amelia knew that they weren't ever considered to rule, and it had never bugged her, until now. It felt an awful lot like being pulled around on a chain and offered something that you know will never ever come your way: kindness or not.

Somehow, she isn't sure why they catiously take them in; Amelia isn't sure that she'd trust her and Maddie, if she'd been them.

* * *

Blue on blue, Amelia figured, would have to become a sign of friendship as she sipped water, that she wanted to guzzle. It was really hot, underground too, and the heat seemed to permeate the air in every direction; there was no escape from it. Maddie's sitting next to her, and to her credit, she doesn't look scared, just resigned. Her hands are fidgety, and Amelia knows that she is probably much more obviously fidgety than her little sister.

"You want to play hide and seek?" Amelia stands against everything in her body that screams, 'no,' but she just wants to see her sister smile.

"Not really." Maddie's purple eyes stare her down, so Amelia merely sighs and rolls into a half-hearted stretch anyway.

"Come on, don't be such a downer." Amelia isn't sure that she'll ever be good at encouraging words, even as her sister shakes her head and stands up to play anyway.

"Who's it?" Maddie doesn't look as enthused as Amelia had hoped that she would be.

"Me. Go hide; I'll find you." Amelia knows that here it might be even harder to find her sister, but she knows that Maddie enjoys hiding more than seeking.

"Okay, I will." Maddie smiled, but it was the kind that is almost happy, but not quite there yet. Amelia _will _change that.

Amelia closed her eyes as she started counting slower than normal, trying to give her sister as much time as possible to hide really, really well. It would just make it harder on Amelia, but she'd rather her sister be happy than things always be easy anyway.

When she finally wanders the tunnels in search of her sister, it feels like hours later. It's only a matter of minutes, but Amelia feels it as if it were much longer. She hums under her breath, to keep her from sinking into the sadness that wants to claw at her. Amelia shoos the wondering thought of whether her cousins are alive or not. She hates the damper that that will put on this game of hide and seek, if she lets it.

Maddie's not in any of the main rooms, as far as she can see, so she meanders through the rooms that aren't so obvious. She stumbles upon the kitchen this way, just to glimpse a Fremen making dinner, and he smiles at her. All she sees is blue on blue, before she manages to smile back. It's half-hearted, but she figures that a smile's a smile anyway, or at least in a stranger's sight.

"Have you seen anyone hiding near here?" Amelia asks, swaying her arm just to keep it moving; it eases some of her anxiety. She wishes that it was easier to talk to Fremen than it is.

"Hiding? Why would anyone be hiding?" He gives her a look out of the corner of his eye, and Amelia smiles. It's almost sneaky in a sort of innocent way. She decides that he might be okay, or at least not as scary as some Fremen seem to be. He's friendly at the very least.

"It's a game, my sister and I like to play." Amelia peers past him, not spotting her sister right away. Maddie was the best person ever at hide and seek, but Amelia has a feeling that she's in here.

"Oh." His blue eyes seem to crinkle, and for the first time ever, Amelia can testify that Fremen eyes can be really pretty. She stands on her tiptoes and peeks past him in the kitchen, easing herself slowly around, knowing instinctively that Maddie's in here somewhere, all Amelia has to do is spot her. Then, Maddie will be it, and Amelia will have to find a good place to hide and likely fail.

Amelia crouches, ignoring the Fremen to peek under cabinets and other structures, opening cabinets and slowly slithering around more on her knees than on her feet. "Maddie, I know you're in here." She calls, letting herself be lost in the game.

She finally spots her hidden inside a small cabinet, shaking with silent laughter in an attempt to not give herself away. Amelia beams. It worked.

"Found you." Amelia calls out as she slowly stands back up.

"So, is she off to hide again?" The Fremen leans against the counter, and Amelia smiles back at him.

"No, now I hide. She has to find me."

"Okay, can I play too?" It's an innocent question, but it puts nervous butterflies in Amelia's stomach anyway.

"I guess so." Amelia shrugs, trying not to be the jealous sort, especially because she'd rather not anger a Fremen, since she isn't sure whether that would equal death or not for her and her sister. No one's ever asked to play hide and seek with them before.

"Do I hide?" He asks her, and it's such a simple question that Amelia almost laughs.

"Yes, you do. Now, come on. Maddie's going to count." Amelia only realizes that she probably should have asked for this Fremen's name before she pulled him out by the hand to go hide with her. Usually, picking the same hiding spot as the other person counted as picking your quickest loss and the quickest way to end the round, but Amelia didn't mind.

They slipped into the bedroom that she and Maddie shared, and Amelia slithered underneath the bed, pulling her Fremen companion along behind her. Finally, turning to look back at his blue on blue eyes.

"What's your name?" She whispers.

"My name is Toris. Aren't we supposed to be quiet?" He answers her.

"Yeah, but I don't know how long it will take Maddie to find us, and I don't want to be bored." Amelia shrugged. Boredom was a common denominator to Amelia's life now, as well as dehydration, and being overly hot. She may be a little impatient often too.

"Okay." He smiled, "What's your name?"

"I'm Amelia." She wiggled against his side, suddenly nervous. It felt odd to finally have a normal conversation with a Fremen though he'd proven that he wasn't a bad person already. Maddie was careful with who she trusted anyway, so Amelia knew that she could probably trust Toris too.

"So do you play this game often?"

She laughed at the question; it was innocent and curious, but just the way it's worded and the fact that no one ever asked them that as it can be seen as a childish game had her laughing. "Yeah, when we can. Also, I play a game with Maddie sometimes that we call Baseball."

"Baseball?" Toris asked her.

"Yeah, we throw a ball at someone who holds a wooden stick or a bat. Once that person hits the ball, she can run to one of three bases or all three, depending on how fast she is." She smiled. "I'm the champion at it."

"Because, you talk when you hide?" Toris asked her, so she nudged him.

"Yeah, and I laugh when she's close by. I'm bad at hiding." Amelia shrugged, "But, she's great at what we call, Hockey. But, you need frozen water for that, and it's too hot here."

"Frozen water?" Toris asked from her side, probably picturing it.

"Yeah, ice." Amelia smiled, "But, Maddie's too good at keeping quiet and being smart."

"Oh. She definitely didn't laugh out loud when you found her." He smiled, and Amelia felt almost like he was teasing her.

"Yeah, she's really good." Amelia cuddled closer to him just as she heard quiet as a mouse footsteps, and Maddie stared down at her.

"Ami, I wouldn't find you so quickly, if you didn't talk." Maddie told her with a gentle smile on her face.

"Aww, I'm it again." Amelia shrugged. "I will find you two." She crawled out from underneath the bed, more determined than ever before.

* * *

Amelia never expected one of her closest friends to end up being a Fremen. She had never imagined that anyone like Toris had ever existed before as the more that she spoke to him and just how easy it became and perhaps always was to speak to him, just rung a bell somewhere inside of her.

It wasn't even just that he'd decided to play hide and seek with her and Maddie; it was something more. He made living with the Fremen almost a home for the two of them. He was always willing to lend a listening ear and eager to even jump into their kinds of 'kid' games.

"I just hate this planet, you know?" Amelia leaned against his side, "It's so dry and hot, and I'm always thirsty. You know, Caladan had water and had ice." She sighed. "Caladan was my home."

"I understand." Toris's fingers tightened around hers, and Amelia seemed to brighten up.

"You do? But, you've only ever lived here, right?" Amelia peeked up at him, the man that her sister was frequently calling Amelia's boyfriend, though Amelia insisted that she wasn't dating anyone at all.

"Yeah, but I've moved around the different communities before." Toris sat up a little straighter, "It can be a bit overwhelming to live on such a hot and dry place. It does get difficult after a while, and we've been working on fixing that."

"So, I've heard." Amelia shrugged, "Can you really make this planet more habitable?"

"Even the greatest challenges are possible to overcome." Toris merely answered. Amelia relaxed back against his side.

She tried to picture what Arrakis would look like with more plants and maybe some nice smelling flowers. It was an odd thought, and she couldn't imagine fertile land where there was endless dunes and tons of soft, burning sand.

Amelia quieted down though, unsure of whether she had more questions or could even think of anymore. It was easier to be quiet and relax; sometimes she felt like she was starting to take after Maddie nowadays, more quiet, more reserved, alert, and cautious. She still felt like Amelia though, so she didn't plan on overthinking all of this anyway.

* * *

Sometimes, Toris felt like Amelia's favorite person. There was no overwhelming need to talk over anything and everything, though he didn't know her near as well as Maddie did, where one look could say all that they couldn't always vocalize, but she'd just met him instead of growing up with him and knowing of all of his childhood nightmares.

Amelia was even learning how to cook Arrakis style dishes, and she found that though they had Melange and would likely change the color of her eyes overtime, she liked them a lot. Toris was teaching her all of his favorite recipes though, so Amelia knew that it wasn't anything below his excellent palate that they were making.

She felt his hands guide her through each recipe, and she was more than comfortable leaning close to him. She blamed it on the fact that she's a very affectionate person and would try to turn anyone into someone just as affectionate. Amelia couldn't be crushing on her best Fremen friend, of course she couldn't be. He kept her afloat when she still wasn't sure how to act around other Fremen, and he reminded her that stereotypes never told the full identity of a person.

Toris was quiet and calm, and he had a pretty smile, especially with how it lit up his blue on blue eyes that sometimes seemed to pull her into a daze, and today was no exception to that rule. She followed his guidance and cooking tips to a T, and every now and again met his eyes with a smile of her own: something warm and bursting at the seams.

Amelia did love him, but she considered it in the way that one loves a best friend. It doesn't occur to her that usually people aren't attracted to their best friends, though his brown hair seemed soft to the touch and his blue on blue eyes always gentle enough to draw her back in. Or that she savored being locked in his embrace. It was comfortable and warm and inviting.

She peeked up at him, and only wondered as they shared a meal together, why she suddenly wanted to lean up and kiss him, why she longed to close that gap that existed among friends and bridge herself into the unknowns of a relationship with a Fremen. It still tempted her, and just maybe, she was actually attracted to her Fremen best friend.

* * *

Amelia didn't know what to say one day when she peeked up at her best friend and wondered if he could have potentially even fallen for her as well. She wasn't all that great at words despite how often she spoke them. It was easy to stammer and screw up what she needed to say.

She finally attempted to find her voice, "Oh, Toris?" She asked.

"What is it Amelia?" He asked as he caught her eyes from his taller height.

"Oh, nevermind." Amelia shrugged as she looked away, chickened out. She hoped that Maddie didn't find out, because she'd be on her case in the way that only a little sister can be.

"You can tell me anything." Toris's smile was so gentle that she was tempted to reveal all of her feelings to him, to tell him just how much he meant to her.

"Oh, fine." Amelia huffed, looking for the right words, before giving up and just blurting out the ones on her mind, "I love you."

"I love you too, Amelia." He was still smiling and did not look surprised in Amelia's eyes. He couldn't understand then.

"I-I mean. I want to date you; I'd be happy marrying you. I love you!" Amelia finally nearly shouted the words at him, maybe he'd understand now.

"I-I know." His face turned red, "Other than the marriage part." He finally admitted. It took him a solid minute to finally calm down enough to say the words that Amelia knew that he meant with every fiber of his being, "I love you too."

Amelia sighed, "Okay." But, she was smiling. It was one of those smiles that was as bright as a beam of moonlight, eager and joyous and happy all at once. She guessed that Maddie had been right all along. Toris was her boyfriend or rather, now he was her boyfriend officially not just in both of their hearts.


End file.
